


tripudio artem

by baekoasis



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Art, Ballet, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 10:22:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14735157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baekoasis/pseuds/baekoasis
Summary: “the most beautiful things are broken in some way.” — sad girls, lang leav.in which baekhyun cannot dance the pain and bruises away, and kyungsoo is ready to mask it all with layer after layer of paint.





	tripudio artem

kyungsoo likes pretty things very much. he likes roses with all the thorns and miles of the finest silk fabric. he likes splashes of colour, of paint dripping along every inch of his once white canvas. he adores paintbrushes, big and small and every size in between. but most of all, he likes baekhyun. baekhyun, with jutting collarbones and bony fingers and ribs threatening to tear right through his ivory skin. baekhyun, with hair that changes colour depending on his mood, eyes most beautiful when lined with coal black eyeliner, and lips always a bloody red colour. baekhyun, who’s more breathtaking than any work of art.

baekhyun is kyungsoo’s, his favourite pretty thing in his pretty collection. even if baekhyun is short tempered and sometimes pretends to despise kyungsoo. even if he hurts kyungsoo. it’s okay, because kyungsoo knows baekhyun does like him back. 

“my pretty angel.” kyungsoo murmurs. baekhyun’s sitting on a plush armchair, and kyungsoo settles on his lap. he wraps his fingers into baekhyun’s silky hair, silver now because he dyed it just a few days ago. he presses their lips together in a lingering kiss. “you need to land the role. for me, alright?” 

baekhyun scowls- not a good mood today, but for good reason. he must be nervous. he looks pretty, though. eyes lined in black, skin as pristine and pale as porcelain. just the way kyungsoo likes it. 

“i’m not good enough.” he finally snaps, the memory pulled to the forefront of his head as his dark expression creates shadows on an otherwise beautiful face. kyungsoo thinks he still looks beautiful, even angry and dark. but he won’t allow it.

“my beautiful dancer. we both know that’s a lie.” he says back- voice low and just as dark, digits tangling themselves deeper into unstyled locks- earning himself an annoyed wince. “you must be good enough.” their lips connect again, even hotter than earlier with kyungsoo pushing for dominance and baekhyun biting back. 

they pull away, eyes smouldering as they watch each other. it’s a daring game, one they play every day- a daily homage to their true feelings. kyungsoo raises his hand, brings it down hard on baekhyun’s pretty little cheek. red blossoms, but the dancer doesn’t make a sound. fury burns in his darkening orbs, and his arms struggle to try and push kyungsoo off his lap. try and fail, for such bony little arms can’t accomplish much more than graceful dance moves on stage. 

a stage that kyungsoo is determined baekhyun will own. 

“i have practise, then auditions. get off.” baekhyun says finally, visibly tiring at the mention of such things. kyungsoo nods, standing up and adjusting the dancer’s outfit. he stops to admire the tights hiding every bruise and instead adorning each fragile curve and muscle. it’s beautiful, as always. because baekhyun is beautiful. 

his ballet flats are lying nearby, and kyungsoo picks them up to undo the laces. he slips them gently on the dancer’s feet- pretty fabric covering bleeding toes and ribbons hiding swollen ankles. he’s gentle, but experienced, as this is something he does for his lover on a daily basis. 

soon after they’re sitting in kyungsoo’s maserati granturismo S, the black edition because it’s kyungsoo’s favourite colour. baekhyun turns on the radio, trendy pop music blasting from the speakers and making kyungsoo scoff at the absurdity. 

they arrive too soon, baekhyun eyeing the studio with a mixture of contempt and exhilaration as he exits the car. he slings his heavy dance bag over his shoulder, ignoring the complaints his thin body sounds in response. he gives kyungsoo a kiss on the lips because he always does, slow and sweet before pulling away and pushing the car door shut. he watches as kyungsoo drives away- here one moment and gone the next, the little black car joining numerous others on the busy street. 

baekhyun heads inside, stashing his bag in the locker room before joining the other dancers for their stretches. his body complains at the stiffness of the ground, bruises delayed in healing as they are inflicted over and over. baekhyun bruises easily. he knows it’s because he doesn’t have enough fat to protect him- but it’s for the sake of beauty, so he doesn’t mind. or at least, he tries not to. 

“ready for auditions, pretty boy?” a voice breaks him out of his focus, and baekhyun looks up.

it’s jongin, the studio’s adored principal dancer. all lean muscle and arrogance and dislike for baekhyun. his arms are crossed, ready to verbally destroy baekhyun’s confidence to the best of his ability. not that it matters- baekhyun is a soloist, so they both know jongin has a right to the best role.

“yes, jongin. good luck.” baekhyun says placidly, looking back down as he continues to stretch- taking calm breaths to ease his muscles. 

“you’re never going to get the role. why do you have so many new bruises? is that crazy lover of yours beating you? i heard he does.“

jongin’s words sting, as they always do. but baekhyun ignores him, gritting his teeth and switching legs. he knows the rumours about kyungsoo, knows he can’t let them affect him. “go away, jongin.” he finally says, trying not to show his annoyance. 

he has little luck. the other dancer steps closer, a hand cupping baekhyun’s chin and forcing him to look up. 

“what’s wrong? hate to admit the truth?”

“i hate you.” he mutters, pulling away- refusing to meet jongin’s eyes. 

they’re interrupted- luckily- by the chaos that ensues when the instructor enters the room. jongin leaves him alone, and baekhyun stands up to join the others in practise. he performs the same moves again and again until his limbs are as sore as ever, bruises recolouring and forming in brand new places. 

but practise ends too soon, and baekhyun finds himself minutes away from auditions. it’s not the most terrifying thing, really. he just has to go in front of the studio’s directors- they have two, because neither wanted to run a ballet studio alone- and perform. but baekhyun’s nervous anyways, because he knows what will happen if he doesn’t get the role. he won’t be able to withstand his own pride.

he squeezes his eyes shut as he stands backstage, waiting. someone else is on stage- one of the other soloists, a boy named sehun with so much energy but too much muscle tone. at least, that’s what baekhyun’s heard.

he thinks he looks beautiful, though- all toned and muscular, passion and fire wrapped into one. that is, he would if he were to be watching him. 

which he’s not.

“byun baekhyun.” xiumin, one of the directors, calls his name, and baekhyun finally opens his eyes to head onto the stage. the seats are mostly empty, just xiumin and his partner yixing sitting in the front row with clipboards and serious expressions and expectations. 

baekhyun takes a deep breath, paints a pretty smile on his pretty lips, and drops it as the music starts to flood out of the speakers. it starts off quiet, soft and filled with grief. he begins in first position, arms poised and muscles tensed- then he’s moving, every movement as fluid and seamless as he can possibly make it. one second he’s doing pirouette after pirouette, the next performing a flawless assemblé. baekhyun loses himself in the music, ignoring the bursts of pain erupting deep under his skin as he focuses solely on dancing. it’s only when the music ends, his forehead beaded with sweat as he gazes at the directors with his arms extended for the final position, that he finally lets the pain seep in.

yixing’s watching him, head tilted indecisively while xiumin finishes writing something before meeting his eyes. 

“thank you, baekhyun.” yixing finally says- the dismissal he’s been waiting for. 

backstage is chaotic, but baekhyun barely notices a thing as he floats through everyone else. his ankles, knees, and every muscle in his body is complaining. he can’t wait to undo his ballet shoes, to melt away the result of so much effort.

no one congratulates him- no one talks to him, the outcast who can never be good enough. never, because he’s dating someone so rich that everyone’s convinced he bought his way in. 

it doesn’t matter. 

it really doesn’t matter. 

he just has to be the best, to prove them all wrong.

soon he’s stepping outside of the auditorium, bag slung over his shoulder as he heads down the hallway. once safely outside, baekhyun looks around- trying to spot the familiar black car that should be there to pick him up right about... now. 

right on time, kyungsoo pulls up to the curb, window rolled down and sleeves rolled up. he’s wearing his most expensive watch, hair slicked back and eyes focused only on baekhyun. baekhyun, who scoffs and gets into the passenger seat, bag tossed into the back. he’s fastening his seatbelt as kyungsoo resumes driving, pulling away from the curb. 

“how was your audition?”

“boring.”

“do you think you got it?”

“don’t know.”

kyungsoo sighs at baekhyun’s elusive answers, struggling to keep his temper in check as his foot presses down a bit harder on the gas petal. as a result, they end up back at home even faster than expected, heading upstairs with kyungsoo’s hand firmly gripping baekhyun’s arm. 

the grasp grows tighter as they reach the entrance to their penthouse. 

“you’re hurting me.”

“i don’t care.”

kyungsoo only releases the dancer’s fragile arm when they’re in the bedroom, hands instead moving to baekhyun’s shoulders- shoving him back onto their bed. 

baekhyun’s looking up at him with a mixture of pain and attraction- the emotions he’s always trying too hard to bury under his pain finally pulled to the surface as kyungsoo stands over him. 

their eyes meet, and soon both of them are racing to undress themselves. 

their clothes end up scattered around the room, taking with them the barriers baekhyun has always tried too hard to set up. he despises kyungsoo, for being too rich, too talented, too handsome, too cold. but in reality, he loves him for all the same reasons. and he’s absolutely shit at revealing the second part. 

kyungsoo gets onto the bed, his body hovering over baekhyun’s more fragile one as he leans down to press their lips together. it’s gentle, delving into dangerous territory as they can both feel the both familiar yet strange feeling of the situation. 

it’s as if time has yanked them backwards, back to their first meeting over seven years ago. when baekhyun was just a boy dreaming of getting accepted into the most prestigious ballet studio in the country, and kyungsoo an aspiring artist rebelling against his ultra rich parents, spending too many hours a day studying at his top notch art university. 

two terrible cliches, both so unlikely to meet. much less fall madly in love. 

but they did, clashing like steel against granite, sparks showering everywhere before finally catching fire. and that fire’s been burning ever since, creating a relationship too dynamic and too passionate to ever get boring. because neither of them are the type to enjoy anything boring. 

so kyungsoo grips baekhyun tightly because he knows he likes it, pulling back from the kiss just to admire his beautiful lover. 

“so, so gorgeous.” he mutters, reaching over baekhyun in order to grab his palette and a paintbrush. a genuine smile, the first one he’s seen in weeks, appears on baekhyun’s pretty lips at the sight. and kyungsoo laughs, just as rare of a sight.

he dips the very tip of the paintbrush into a pool of scarlet red paint, swirling it around with a dramatic flair before bringing it back down to paint a long trail along baekhyun’s inner thigh. the red is absolutely striking against the paleness of his skin, and kyungsoo can’t help but sigh quietly in delight.

baekhyun cranes his neck to look, balancing himself up on his elbows to be able to watch. he hums approvingly, eyes flicking back up to kyungsoo as he waits for the next brush stroke. 

this time he reaches for a lighter red, a nice contrast to the earlier colour as he paints baekhyun’s other leg with sweeping motions. it spreads across his skin beautifully, covering the bruises scattered everywhere, kyungsoo letting it settle for just a moment before returning to the palette. 

vivid, cerulean blue swirls and mixes with the red, purple blooming as the colours meet in the most elementary of pairings. baekhyun sighs contently as the paint soothes over his skin, and kyungsoo is more than willing to further indulge him.

green, yellow, orange, pink- soon baekhyun’s nearly covered entirely in the paint, each colour blending with multiple others and contrasting with the original ivory skin that peeks out from underneath. kyungsoo sets down his paintbrush, admires his handiwork- and then he’s flipping baekhyun over, sensibly having left the back of him paint free for a single purpose. 

their bodies connect, just two specks in a multiverse too massive to even imagine. but everything to each other. and neither of them could care less that the once white sheets are now anything but. 

because kyungsoo likes pretty things very much. he likes the way the stars tear through the endless darkness of the night. he likes the trembling droplets of dew that gather overnight and die by the morning sun. he adores murals and art exhibits and everything in between. but most of all, he loves baekhyun. 

and baekhyun is his true masterpiece.


End file.
